


climbing out the back door, didn't leave a mark

by everytimewe



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Coming Out, M/M, Sneaking Around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-19
Updated: 2013-08-19
Packaged: 2017-12-23 22:27:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/931787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everytimewe/pseuds/everytimewe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is the unheard of theatre kid and Harry is the popular musician and no one knows that Louis is the one Harry's messing around with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

"No, Liam. I said no five minutes ago and I'm saying it now." Louis shook his head, looking down at his lunch tray full of things and questioned if they were even edible. He shook his head a little and pushed it away, suddenly losing his appetite. He instead focused on a pad of notebook paper, scribbling and annotating the sides of it as he wrote out a drama assignment. 

Liam huffed, disappointed, and honestly, Louis felt awful for saying no to him. Anything he ever asked Liam to do for him, everything was dropped and his best mate was at his side in a heartbeat. But he wasn't going to give in on this. There was no way Liam could coax him into going to some overly talked about high school party that they wouldn't be welcome at anyway. "Please, Lou? He's going to be there, I know he will. And this time I'm going to talk to him." 

Louis sighed and dropped his pen, unable to concentrate on his work. "You have been pining after that lad for months, Liam, and you haven't even spoken to him yet?" He followed Liam's eyes to a table across the cafeteria, where a large group of people sat, most of the noise in the room coming from that corner. "Do you even know if he's gay?" Louis asked.

Liam groaned and collapsed his head onto the table with a thud. "Can't I just admire him for once without you having to snap me back into your pessimistic, boring reality?" 

Louis snorted at this. "Another reality check for you: all reality is pessimistic and boring." He shrugged with a slight smirk.

Liam lifted his head up to look at him, desperation in those usually light and happy brown eyes of his. "It doesn't have to be," He muttered. 

Louis tossed that thought around in his head for a few minutes, and really, if he didn't go along with this, Liam would have that pitiful look about him like a kicked puppy. Needless to say, Louis would probably never forgive himself. "Fine." He agreed. "We'll go."

The way Liam's face lit up already made Louis's decision worth it.

\---

Louis was dressed in his black The Killers shirt, black Vans, and dark jeans when Liam came to pick him up at nine. He pulled a beanie over his fringe because why put the effort into something you don't care about? 

Liam, on the other hand, had on jeans, white sneakers, and a gray jumper that showed his muscular outline. He looked like he had spent hours on his hair and when Louis climbed in the passenger seat, he ruffled it, which earned him a hard elbow to the ribs and an apologetic looking Liam as Louis tried to breathe properly again. 

"Seriously, Louis. How do I look?" Liam asked as they walked up the front lawn to a house with cars surrounding it and a bass emitting from it that shook the windows.

"Use protection." Louis wiggled his eyebrows, just to mess with Liam who blushed darkly. They entered and the house was packed. Liam's eyes scanned for the boy he sought after and Louis's scanned for alcohol.

"God, he's over there," Liam frantically whispered, pointing to the lad with tan skin and a model-like face, dark hair in a perfect quiff. His letterman jacket hung over his frame in a way Liam found to be heavenly. 

"Alright, well you go work your magic and I'm going to get sloshed." Liam gave Louis an exasperated look. "Oh, come off it. It's the least you could let me do." He chuckled, weaving his way through the groups of people until he found the kitchen, bottles spread across the countertops as if he had just walked in an alcoholic's daydream. He stood there, taking it all in, trying to decide whether he should spend the night taking shots alone when he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"You good, mate?" A voice said from beside him. He turned his head and looked up at what was quite possibly the most fit lad in school...or the universe. Messy brown curls, dark green eyes, and a crooked grin that looked unintentionally mischievous. Oh, and fucking dimples. Louis didn't know how long he stared before he decided to open his mouth.

"Great, yeah. Just trying to get a beer." To his surprise, the lad cracked open the one he had in his hand and handed it right to him.

"Now you have one. What's next?" He grinned, and Louis was pretty sure that he was in shock. 

Louis played it cool, though. He was good at acting. Maybe because his lack of friends and wide open schedule led him into theatre for the past three - going on four - years of high school. Not that anyone noticed. "Now, I go and find my friend who is hopelessly chasing after some bloke and hope he hasn't worked himself into an anxiety attack." Louis smiled when he got a chuckle from him. 

"Is he after anyone I might know?" The lad leaned against the counter and Louis wanted to roll his eyes and laugh at him because obviously. 

Louis raised an eyebrow and maybe found it a little endearing that this guy was ignoring his own popularity for the moment. Harry Styles was his name. Everyone knew him, and he knew everyone who was anyone. "Zayn Malik." Louis smirked a bit, pretending to not know that they were best mates. Two could play that game, he guessed. 

Harry grinned. "Good lad." He flashed his teeth. "Who's your mate, then?"

Louis found this amusing, because well, nobody knew him and Liam. They kind of just sat back and watched. They were watchers. "Uh, Liam Payne. You probably don't-"

"I know him." Harry smiled kindly. "And I know you too, Louis." 

Now Louis was confused. "How do you-"

"Well we're all in the same grade so there's a start. Oh, and you were in Grease. Amazing job, really." Louis couldn't help but blush. Being complimented on his acting was better than anything. He quickly got a hold on it and told himself to stop blushing over a friendly compliment. Reality check.

"Thanks." Was all he could muster. He actually felt kind of shy.

Harry just gave that god damn grin again. "Shall we check and see if our mates have made contact yet?" He asked, being interrupted for a moment to say a brief hello to some random passerby. 

Louis nodded. "We shall." 

And that was where it began.


	2. two

"Louis," Liam breathed, once he came back into his line of sight. "I can't do this I- oh." He bit his lip as he noticed that Louis was with someone. But not just anyone, Zayn's best friend. 

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Hey, Liam." He greeted. Louis wished that he could have taken a picture of the look on Liam's face - a hilarious mixture of confusion, surprise, and embarrassment. 

"You told him?!" Liam whispered harshly to Louis, who only laughed. 

"Relax, mate." Harry spoke before Louis even had the chance to defend himself. "Oi! Zayn!" He called through the crowd of people. Zayn heard and looked around before catching Harry's eyes on him. He made a relatively quick exit from the group he was with and squeezed through others, shaking peoples' hands and waving like he was the prime minister. 

"This better be good, I just passed up an opportunity to get stoned." He grinned. 

"Some first impression." Harry scoffed playfully at him. "It is good, actually. I wanted to introduce you to Liam. He's on cross country. Remember how that one lad was all frustrated because he couldn't beat him?" He was quite good at this, making everything seem so intriguing. 

"Right, yeah." Zayn nodded, his attention caught. "You must be really good." He smiled and wow, Louis couldn't imagine how Liam must have felt, even though it showed all over his face. 

Liam shrugged modestly. "I just try my best." He grinned. Harry looked satisfied. 

"Well, Louis here and I will be around. You two have fun, but not too much fun. You hear me, Zayn?" Harry teased. 

"Hey, if Liam wants to have too much fun, by all means, let it happen." Louis joined in, earning himself a high five from Harry and a scandalized look from Liam. He could already feel the aching in his neck from the head lock he'll be in once he and Liam get home.

"He didn't even want to come here tonight." Louis heard Liam say as he and Harry walked away. They ended up on a couch, just sitting and chatting the night away, and honestly, it made Louis feel special that he was the one Harry chose to spend his time with. 

"Can I tell you a secret?" Harry asked lowly, glancing around the room to make sure no one was watching.

"I just met you tonight, why would you want to tell me a secret?" Louis chuckled and raised an eyebrow. Harry was impressed with the answer, truthfully. 

"The fact that you're not so eager to know makes me want to tell you more." And Louis swore that Harry was flirting but he knew he wasn't gay.

"Go on, then." Louis made a motion with his hand.

"I think we should make out." He whispered, and Louis had never had anything so forward be said to him before. 

"Don't get mad at me, but I'm taking this drink away from you..." Louis slowly and cautiously reached for Harry's cup, but his hand was swatted away and Harry was laughing. 

"I'm not drunk, Louis." He set the cup down. "It's a secret though." Harry pressed a finger to his own lips and fuck, he was just so confident that Louis would want to and he was so right. 

"Damn you." Louis said, shaking his head fondly. "How were you so sure that you could trust me?" He breathed.

"The way you looked at me when I first talked to you tonight." Harry grinned. "I'll go upstairs and find an empty room and you come up in five minutes." And then he was gone. 

Louis nodded to himself. A little kissing with a practical stranger yet most popular guy in school wouldn't hurt. It was high school, for Christ's sake. It wasn't serious. This was his last year, anyway and sadly, the first time he had let go. 

Sure enough, Harry was waiting for him upstairs and not a single person noticed. Harry had nearly sprung up and strode over to Louis, locking the door. He crashed their lips together and before Louis knew it, he was underneath of Harry, making out on the bed. He sucked roughly on Harry's bottom lip, biting at it. Harry just chuckled, relishing the sting of it. 

A pounding came at the door. "The cops are here!" Someone called from outside and Louis sprung up. He had to find Liam. "Harry, I've got to go." He was across the room in a flash but Harry grabbed his wrist. 

"Louis, we need to talk about this." He said firmly. Louis ripped his arm away from his grasp.

"We'll talk later. I have to get Liam." Louis dismissed. Harry grabbed him again. "Ow, fucking let go of me." He cursed.

"Louis, please." Harry pleaded. 

"Harry, I know. I won't tell anyone. Not even Liam. Okay? Stop worrying." Louis said, rushed. He gave Harry an apologetic glance before jogging downstairs. 

And why would it be a surprise to him to find Liam joking with one of the policemen who came to bust the party? Zayn stood right by Liam, looking amused and relaxed because he wouldn't be in any trouble with him by his side. 

"Louis!" Liam waved happily as Louis walked over to them. "Right, well we better get going, then." He said to the policemen before bidding him a good night. Zayn followed them to Liam's car and Louis noticed that he and Liam were loosely holding hands. Liam unlocked the car. "Just a second, Louis?" He asked kindly. Louis nodded and ducked inside. 

"It was nice meeting you tonight." Liam said, smiling down into the grass. 

"It was nice meeting you too." Zayn smiled back. "I probably would have been in trouble if you hadn't been here. I owe you." 

"Well, you have my phone number now." Liam grinned.

"Yeah, I do." Zayn nodded. "I'll text you." He got a little closer and pecked Liam on the cheek. Liam giggled and blushed before getting into his car. "Drive safe." Zayn spoke softly, closing the door for Liam. 

"That was so disgustingly cute that I just threw up a little in my mouth." Louis remarked, obviously joking.

"Piss off." Liam spat, and then grinned satisfactorily when Louis gasped. 

As they pulled away, Louis caught sight of Harry meeting Zayn out in the driveway, staring at Liam's car. Zayn was grinning stupidly and Harry looked excruciatingly worried, his eyes following Liam's car until it disappeared around the corner.


	3. three

The car ride home was silent with Liam being too excited for words and Louis glancing down at his reddened wrist where Harry had grabbed him so firmly. He figured it was best if it wasn't a discussion. 

\---

School on Monday was different. Zayn had approached Liam at lunch and sat down with them, holding his hand in that cute way that they had done just days ago. Louis wasn't focused enough to chat. He glanced over in the direction that Zayn came from. He didn't spot Harry anywhere. 

After several minutes with Zayn and Liam mumbling stupidly to each other, Louis decided to excuse himself. 'Maybe it's just culture shock.' He thought to himself as he ditched his tray and walked out towards his locker. He just got it open when a large hand closed it shut. He spun around, a little irritated.

"Wow, which melodramatic teen movie did you get that from?" Louis cocked an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"I'm not laughing." Harry's tone was serious. "Louis, you need to understand why I'm acting like this." He breathed. 

Louis shook his head dismissively. "No, I understand. You're not out yet." He whispered, giving Harry the privacy even though he was acting kind of crazy. 

"Even worse, I'm not even sure I like guys." Harry sighed, looking down. Louis actually felt kind of sorry for him. He remembered what it was like, being sexually confused like that. Though his time came much earlier than high school. Or maybe it was just the look in those pretty green eyes of Harry's that made him sympathize. Either way, he still felt bad. 

"Have you ever...uh...like...experimented before?" Louis asked, feeling a bit strange because they barely knew each other and they were having an in depth conversation about this. 

"That's the whole thing, Louis." Harry looked back up at Louis's face. "I have. With this one lad who's a good mate of mine. But he graduated last year and now he's at uni." He left it on that vague note, not wanting to really get to the point, but Louis picked up on it. 

"Oh." Louis nodded slowly, collecting his thoughts. "You want someone to..." He trailed off. 

"Yeah." Harry replied quickly after. "But I don't want anything serious. And I don't want it to be known that I'm doing this." 

"Do I really look that cheap?" Louis teased, but Harry wasn't having it. "Relax. Yeah, fine, whatever. I've got no commitments." He gave a friendly smile. "Now if you'd allow me, I'd like to get my math book so I can actually pass my test on Friday."

"I can help you." Harry nodded. "After school, if you want." He said, nervously looking around to make sure that nobody was in the hall with them.

Louis got it. He did. It was a difficult time and Harry was trusting someone he just became friends with. That didn't mean that Harry got off easy, though. "I must look really cheap." He grinned and his shoulder was gently pushed as Harry laughed. 

No one saw.

\---

"So I just take the square root of that on both sides of the equation?" Louis tapped his pen against his book, his head starting to hurt. 

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but don't simplify if it's not a perfect square. Just leave it like that." 

Louis tossed his pen across his room and rested his head in his arms. "Done." He muttered. Harry chuckled and shook his head fondly. He had helped Louis after school every day that week, but so far, nothing had happened other than what was supposed to happen. Unfortunately.

"Finally." Harry grinned, laying down on the bed next to Louis, who had already collapsed in faux exhaustion. Harry smirked and faced Louis. "You owe me." He spoke quietly, playfully.

Louis opened his eyes to be greeted with that smirk. He leaned over and gave Harry's cheek a quick peck, but Harry caught him by the shirt and pulled him down to his lips. Louis kissed him soft and slow, contrasting from the way he had kissed Harry the weekend before, but Harry wasn't having it. He intertwined his large hand into Louis's hair and tugged until Louis groaned out in a bit of pain. 

Louis got the hint and kept his mouth open, teasing Harry's lips with his tongue. He bit down on his lower lip again and sucked roughly. Harry responded well to this, smirking and licking at Louis's top lip. They stayed like that for who knows how long. Louis lost track of time because fuck, Harry was just so good at this that he couldn't think about anything else. 

He heard a knock downstairs and then the door opened. "Louis?" Liam called. "Did you forget I was coming over, you knob?" 

Harry sat up quickly, panic in his eyes. "Relax, Harry. It's only Liam."

Harry shook his head frantically. "No, no, no. Nobody can know about this, Louis. I thought you understood." His breathing became quicker and Louis had begun to worry. 

"I do understand. I do." Louis nodded.

"He can't see me. He's going to tell Zayn. Fuck. I'm fucked." Harry scrambled to get his things.

"Harry. Stop it. Go out the back door, I'll distract Liam. Wait three minutes and then go. Quietly." Louis couldn't resist giving him one last peck on his swollen, bruised lips, before disappearing downstairs. He pretended to have just woken up from a nap and guided Liam into the living room, asking him a ton of questions about him and Zayn to keep him occupied. 

Harry had parked down the street a little, just in case he had to do this. He tip toed downstairs and out the back door of the kitchen, stuffing his hands into his pockets in the cooling air, heart rate finally starting to come back down.

Louis stared out the window, half heartedly paying attention to the answers of the questions he had just asked, but Liam was so enthralled that he didn't even notice.

He didn't understand, quite yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. :) This is my first go at writing like this so I hope you bare with. Sorry if it's a bit slow at first! Thanks for reading!


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